


Meeting of the Minds

by kattabaker (katttewks)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-04-30 06:26:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5153642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katttewks/pseuds/kattabaker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I love Lyla Michaels so much and I think so much of her story is behind the scenes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Oliver stared at the door, almost hoping Felicity was wrong and the apartment was empty. The last time he was here… he flinched from the memory. He’d done a lot of terrible things in his life, but this, this haunted his nightmares like few others. He’d put a woman and child he loved grave danger. If John was his brother, Lyla and Sara were his sister in law and niece. He had hoped that Sara wouldn’t be there, that somehow Dig and Lyla had gotten her out of the city but he had forgotten that while he knew about the danger to the city, they did not. 

Sara had cried and reached for her mother as they led her away, but Lyla had been silent, accessing. He knew that if they were clear that Sara would remain unharmed, Lyla would not struggle. Picking up Sara’s blanket and putting it back in the crib had been an automatic reaction, but Lyla never missed anything and he hadn’t been surprised when she confronted him later. Tried to reach him, something he didn’t deserve. He had even briefly considered trying to pass on a message but he couldn’t risk it. 

Ever since he’d found Thea’s broken body on the floor, bleeding out, dying in front of him; like his father, his mother, Tommy, he hadn’t been able to breathe. He could still smell the blood, hear her gasping for air, the scene played in a continuous loop in his head. Malcolm’s plan, hatched in the hospital room as Oliver cried over his sister’s body, had been the only thing he had been able to hold on to. He hadn’t been able to see the flaws in the plan, hadn’t been able to see that Malcolm had a hidden agenda, he couldn’t plan or think or breathe. Oliver had been so lucky that Felicity had forgiven him, had accepted him back into her life after his stupidity and betrayal. 

“Oliver?” Lyla’s voice interrupted his thoughts, he wasn’t surprised he hadn’t noticed her opening the door, she had skills they never discussed with John and stealth was only the tip of that iceberg.  
“Are you coming in, or should I leave you out here for a while to wrestle with your pain?” Lyla’s smile was teasing and kind.

“You’ve forgiven me!” Oliver blurted out, surprised as he walked past her to the living room.

“Yes” she answered. Lyla understood secrets but disliked lying. With Lyla there was usually the truth or silence. After Amanda’s lies, Lyla’s truths had been a welcome relief.

Oliver dropped down into a chair, away from where Sara played on the floor near the couch, building some kind of castle set. He wasn’t sure that getting too close to her was a good idea, he was afraid of frightening her and had to blink back tears at the thought. He had been such a monster that small children needed to be afraid of him. He clenched his hands to stop the trembling that was beginning to course through his body. 

“Oliver,” Lyla said, “get up.”

He stared at her in confusion and she surprised him again. She grabbed his earlobe like Raisa used to do when he was young and hauled him over to the couch.

“Sit here,” she commanded.

Oliver sat. And waited, wide-eyed. This was not what he had expected, he had expected to talk to an angry mother and instead was being reprimanded by an older sister. She had always treated him that way, protected him from Waller when she could and even cried once in Russia when she had treated his burns. Her connection to John had sometimes seemed planned; by Amanda or the universe, he was never quite sure, but it had always made him feel like there was more going on than he knew.

“Sara,” Lyla said to her focused daughter, “Oliver is here to play. Can you say hi?”

Sara looked at him with her mother’s accessing eyes and said “hi.” She reached out her hand and dropped a brick into his and said, “Build?”

Oliver closed his eyes and lost the battle with his tears. He opened his eyes and answered, “Sure.” He reached into his pocket for his handkerchief; old habits die hard, and wiped his face as he slid to the floor next to the toddler. She solemnly showed him how to place the bricks on top of each other and he lost himself in the moments of play, something he hadn’t done since Thea was small.

Lyla stroked Sara’s head as she got up, then reached over and did the same to Oliver as she went into the kitchen. He listened to her hum as she prepared something, snacks perhaps and smiled as she started to sing about letting go. It was the safest he had felt in a long time, even in the suburbs some part of him had been on guard, but here, playing with Sara and listening to Lyla sing, he felt safe, guarded and protected.

As she placed the plates of carrots and cheese on the table, Lyla spoke, “You’re ability to love was always your greatest weakness and greatest strength. I’m not surprised that Malcolm knew that, he’s known you all your life. He knew what buttons to push and how to take advantage. Amanda did the same. Just do me a favor?”

“Anything” Oliver answered.

“Run things by Felicity first from now on, she has your best interests at heart and is really good at thinking of other ways to do things.” Lyla smiled as she stated her request. 

“You and I go way back and we are very much alike, both drank the ARGUS koolaid, but having children can change that. I forgive you because I know you, but Oliver? Don’t ever do anything like that again. To me or anyone else. That plan? That was more Amanda than anything else, don’t go down that path. You and Johnny will have to work things out on your own, but for me and Sara? We’re good. My daughter needs her godfather back, don’t let her down again.”

“I won’t, I swear.” Oliver said and it felt like a vow and a promise. He handed Sara a carrot and for the first time in months, felt like he could breathe.


	2. Chapter 2

“So, two people back from the dead in two weeks? I picked a hell of a time to be gone.” Lyla said as she handed Thea her cup of tea. 

“Sorry you didn’t get to see little Sara before she went to bed, but she was pretty tired from her Mommy and me swim class.”

Thea stared at Lyla as if she didn’t understand the words coming out of her mouth. “You are a bad-assed ARGUS agent, Damien Darhk is trying to take over the city and your day consisted of a swim class?”

“Thea,” Lyla answered, “I know it seems like we are moving from crisis to crisis, but in between you have to live your life. Felicity with Palmer Tech, Oliver and the mayoral campaign, me and Sara, these things are the reason we are fighting. If we don’t take the moments when we can, what’s the point? Other than help Oliver, what do you have in your future? I know you love being Speedy, but what do you do in the daylight?”

Thea sipped her tea slowly, wondering why Lyla even bothered to ask her. What kind of future could she have, daughter of a mass murderer and a barely restrained killer herself. She was not exactly the kind of person who had a future.

“What has Oliver told you about his time away?” Lyla asked.

“As little as possible,” Thea grumbled. The years of lies between her and her brother often made her feel like a sulky teen. She was trying to get over the resentment, she had lied to him a lot as well, but some part of Thea longs for the old Ollie, who seemed simple and uncomplicated. That memory of him was probably a lie as well, no one, not even pre-island Ollie, was simple and uncomplicated. 

Lyla startled her as she took the tea from her and held her hand.

“There have been a lot of times over the last eight years that Oliver probably didn’t think he had a future. He couldn’t even imagine that something good could even be possible. Not because he hates fun,” Lyla winked as she paused, “but because his present was so difficult, even horrible, that he couldn’t picture a future that wasn’t more of the same. But Thea, nothing lasts forever, not even pain. And the future, good or bad, can be planned for. Or at least considered. So what are your plans for the future? College maybe? Open another nightclub? Get a job with Oliver’s cabinet? Thea, what do you want for the future?”

Thea didn’t even realize she was crying until Lyla pulled her into her arms. The crying turned to weeping and Lyla just held her and rocked her softly. She didn’t tell her it would be okay, she didn’t tell her to let it out, she just rocked her and sang a song about a mocking bird.

Suddenly Thea missed her mother so much she could barely breathe. Her flawed and frightened and incredibly brave mother. Who died to protect her. If Thea gave up now, if she didn’t get through this blood lust that was stealing her sanity, her mother’s sacrifice would be in vain. She knew she should want a future for herself, but she couldn’t see that right now. But she could see wanting to honor her mother by living. Come out of the shadows that were drowning her, into the light.

Lyla stroked her hair as her crying slowed and Thea marveled at this family that was not the one she had grown up with but who supported her anyway. Laurel, the sister she thought she would have; Felicity, the sister she was happy to be surprised by; Diggle and Lyla, who were half siblings and half parents to her and little Sara, the niece she never expected and loved so unconditionally. Oliver gave her all of these people so effortlessly. Blood had given her a father like Malcolm, but her brother had given her a family. His family. Oliver had drawn these amazing people to him, then shared them with her. She hadn’t thanked him for his gift and she really needed to. Soon.

Thea snuggled into Lyla’s shoulder as Lyla continued to stroke her hair. “Is I don’t know an acceptable answer?”

“Absolutely,” Lyla replied. “It’s one of my favorite answers. So full of possibilities.”

“Can we sit here for a while?” Thea asked. “I know I need to talk to you about Malcolm and Darhk and everything that’s been happening, but for right now, can we just sit?”

“Yes,” Lyla said, “we can do that.” She shifted along the sofa and laid back, Thea’s head still on her shoulder. As Thea drifted off to sleep, Lyla started to sing again. It made her feel very young, like when her mother would come in her room after an event or party and sing her to sleep. The memory made Thea smile and for just a few moments, the world slipped away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not what I had expected to write. I’m a huge fan of Lyla, yay to positive media portrayal of a woman who is also a veteran, but Thea tapped on my shoulder and asked for a moment of peace. How could I deny that sweet little cupcake?


End file.
